The other day I read this article by Harvey Mackay entitled “Stretch beyond self-imposed limits.” In it he described how circus elephants are trained. Roughly stated, Mackay suggests that when training elephants their keepers begin by putting a very small elephant on a huge, heavy chain. Over time, the small elephant learns it is useless to try to break away.
As the elephant grows, however, the keepers employs a smaller and smaller chain. The elephant could easily break away from the chain but it has learned that it is senseless to fight. In other words, what the elephant learned when it was young yields the same results even though it is now a massive 9,000-pound elephant!
Now, I’m not suggesting you are a 9,000-pound elephant, but it is a wonderful metaphor for unlearning. My question to you is this: Are there chains that were placed around you as child — either by a parent, a teacher or a classmate — that are still holding you back today? If so, my advice is this: Just try breaking free. There could be nothing holding you back except yourself.
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